Recently we had planned an outing with friends of ours, Drs. Bill and Janet Benish, volunteers at HBS in Limbé. They had asked us if we could visit the home and family of Emerson St. Hilaire. Emerson is a little 2-year-old boy with a serious congenital heart defect, and Bill and Janet are planning to be Emerson’s host family in the United States when he goes for medical/surgical evaluation. Bill and Janet, medical internist and pediatrician respectively, have been instrumental in contacting The Rainbow Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio, who will evaluate Emerson’s condition and hopefully will be able to surgically repair this life-threatening condition. Steve and Dr. Manno visit the Bayeux Community Clinic almost every week, and Emerson’s parents have been faithful in bringing him to his appointments. They had never been to his home, though, and Bill and Janet suggested that we try to arrange a visit so they can better be prepared to care for him. (We have been told his parents will not be allowed visas by the US government to accompany him for the evaluation and surgery.)

Celidieu and his wife, Tanya, agreed for us to visit their home and told us it would be about a 30-minute walk from a village not far from Bayeux. We parked our truck on the outskirts of a small village, and Emerson’s father guided us on foot from there to the village of Guillotin, where they live. We had not realized they lived so close to the ocean, and most of the walking was in sand along the shore. The coastline was amazingly beautiful with lush green mountains nearby. Seawater cooled our feet as we walked in the hot sun. Several women carrying baskets on their heads walked alongside us, wondering where we were going. We explained to them the purpose of our trip. They knew of Emerson and his family and were very interested. We turned inland, and Celidieu walked us through a sandy landscape where peanut gardens had been planted. We didn’t know what we would find when we arrived, although we knew their home would be simple, but we were surprised at how simple it was. Their house was made of the traditional mud and thatch wattle and consisted of only two rooms! No electricity, no running water, no windows in the home, nor any sign of a latrine in the back. There was a rustic outdoor kitchen covered in palm leaves where they did their cooking. I tried to imagine cooking for a family of ten people when it was raining! Nor could I imagine trying to sleep with that many people on two beds in a room with no windows!

As soon as we arrived they brought borrowed plastic chairs from their neighbors, and we sat to cool ourselves under some lime trees in their courtyard. Children from their home and their neighbors’ started to gather and to stare and giggle at the ten of us “blancs” or white people. We were a rare sight in their remote village. We greeted the family and Emerson and his brothers and sisters and grandmother as well as all the neighbors that came by. Bill and Janet’s college daughter, Rebecca, had come to Haiti with her parents and soon had the children playing a lively game of Frisbee, to everyone’s delight. Later, the children entertained everyone by blowing bubbles. Emerson sat quietly on Janet’s lap, his heart visibly beating in his umbilicus. One doesn’t need the usual stethoscope to count his heart rate - it can be counted with the naked eye! It has taken two years to try to get his documents in order to apply for a medical visa to enter the US. Just days before Emerson and his father were planning to go to Port-au-Prince to try to get the necessary documents, unrest in Port Au Prince closed the US Embassy. So another roadblock that needs your prayers! We are still hopeful and will keep you informed.

We thank God that you allow us to be His servants here in Haiti.

Love and grace,

Steve & Nancy

Other prayer requests:

-For Steve’s mom, Eileen James, recovering from the removal of a kidney and ureter and discovery of cancerous cells. She is now in a rehab center near their home in Pennsylvania.

- For hunger in Haiti and so many places around our world needing physical and spiritual nourishment